We were overwhelmed with nominations for the 2023/24 Awards and there were some fantastic candidates so it was a struggle to draw up a shortlist. Find out more about our nominees and winners below.

“Sam”
Winner of the Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize

Sam is a passionate and articulate advocate for people with lived experience of modern slavery and women who have experienced violence and rape. She campaigned tirelessly to ensure that her rapist and exploiter was brought to justice, advocating not only for herself but for a wider group of women, not only in leading her legal case and providing peer support, but also in bravely sharing her experience in a documentary: Catching my Rapist. Sam advocates for the importance of survivor voice in telling their story and achieving justice, her work within her case, and to create and publicise her documentary, demonstrates her tenacity, and encapsulates the importance of survivor voice.  

Jade Blue McCrossen-Nethercott
Winner of the EHMP/CWJ Award

Jade, a rape survivor and campaigner, draws from her personal experience with the criminal justice system to advocate for change. Her case was abruptly dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service just before trial due to a rare sleep disorder defence; her story was highlighted in the BBC Three documentary ‘Sexsomnia: Case Closed?’, which followed her battle for justice. 

Jade now speaks out about her case’s flaws and their repercussions, striving to improve the system for other survivors of rape and sexual assault. She is a founding member of the Met Police Victim Voice Forum and participates in discussions and training with the Metropolitan Police and CPS. Furthermore, she shares her insights as a guest speaker and panellist at events in the justice, charity, and education sectors.

Lisa-Marie Taylor
Special Award Winner

Lisa-Marie co-founded FiLiA and has been leading it for over 10 years, becoming CEO when it gained charitable status in 2015. FiLiA puts on the largest annual grassroots feminist conference in Europe (if not the world!), bringing the wide array of women’s rights issues to thousands of women and playing a significant role in growing the women’s liberation movement.  

Jill Radford
Jalna Hanmer Lifetime Achievement Award

In addition to the various significant campaigns against VAWG that Jull has either initiated or been actively involved with, of which the most recent was setting up the Tees Valley Sexual Violence Forum, she is also a feminist academic and writer of huge importance to the moment, having published, among other titles, Femicide (with Diana Russell), and the Lesbian Custody Project (about the systematic attack on lesbian parenting). It is singularly fitting that Jill is the first recipient of this award as she worked with Jalna over the years, as we are indebted to both of these remarkable women for the grit and determination they have both brought to the fight against VAWG and the difference they have made.

Ali Morris
Ali is a tireless advocate against violence towards women and girls, operating at local, national and international levels. She leads the Stop Spiking Campaign, acts as FiLiA’s Wales MVAWG Lead and has been a driving force in addressing on-street prostitution, advocating for the Nordic Model in the UK. She also supports abolitionist activism working with FiLiA’s Exchange Project in Japan. She is a grassroots activist with Merched Cymru, Swansea Bay ReSisters, and other Welsh feminist groups. Her ground breaking Best Friends Handbook offers vital resources for teenage girls on relationships, abuse, and body issues. Ali is a formidable advocate for feminist change who has dedicated her life to supporting women and girls.  

Ayse Hussein
Ayse is a tenacious institutional advocate, with ambition to influence and shape system change and to hold statutory agencies accountable to improve their response to women who face multiple disadvantages. Ayse is moving through a life-changing experience of loss and using her platform to raise awareness of failures in the Criminal Justice Service. Ayse Hussein is cousin of the late Mihrican (Jan) Mustafa, who was murdered in Newham in 2018. Jan’s legacy will continue to raise awareness and support.

Sharon Holland
The tragic loss of Chloe Holland in 2023, to domestic suicide was a heart breaking event that spurred Sharon into action. While grieving her daughter, Sharon turned her pain into a catalyst for change. Her tireless efforts in campaigning and lobbying the government to introduce a specific statutory offence of manslaughter by coercive control exemplify her remarkable courage, determination, and advocacy for victims of domestic abuse. Sharon Holland’s initiative is a pivotal step toward addressing a critical gap in the legal system. Coercive control, a pervasive and insidious form of domestic abuse, often goes unrecognised and unprosecuted. By championing the creation of a specific offense for manslaughter by coercive control, Sharon aims to hold perpetrators accountable for their psychological manipulation and abusive behaviour that tragically leads to the loss of life.  Her unwavering dedication serves as an inspiration and a beacon of hope for those affected by domestic abuse.

Sisters Salon (Brighton Women’s Liberation Collective)
Brighton Women’s Liberation Collective (BWLC) run women-only campaigns and meet-ups. Their monthly women-only meet-up, Sisters Salon is held in accessible venues across Brighton and Hove. BWLC are a victim-survivor led organisation, run entirely by volunteers. They create women’s spaces in a city with higher than average rates of domestic abuse, sexual assaults and recently ranked the worst city to be a single-mother due to the cost of living crisis.

Ellie Wilson
Ellie has campaigned tirelessly to reform the criminal justice system in the UK, as a survivor of rape by her former partner. She reported his crimes, and then waived her anonymity after securing a conviction, in order to show other women who have been abused that they have nothing to be ashamed of. Since then, she has appeared across the national media, on programmes like Women’s Hour and Panorama. Ellie is one of a number of women who have successfully campaigned for the Scottish Government to commit to providing free court transcripts to survivors as part of a pilot scheme, and for Scottish universities to commit to checking whether applicants have a history of sexual assault charges. 

Natasha Benjamin
Natasha is the founder of Free Your Mind CIC, a grassroots non-profit organisation which offers tailored therapy for child victims of domestic abuse. Established in 2013, Free Your Mind is dedicated to empowering children and young people. Through the expertise of qualified practitioners with lived experience of domestic abuse, the organisation aims to help them to overcome trauma and thrive. While Free Your Mind was created with a focus on children and young people, Natasha has expanded the service to include advice and guidance for mothers who are victims/survivors of domestic abuse. In addition to overseeing Free Your Mind, Natasha campaigns tirelessly to raise awareness about the impact of domestic abuse on young people. She has been at the forefront of the movement that has fought for children to be acknowledged as victims of domestic abuse in their own right.